The removal is undoubtedly the most difficult and tedious part of this whole ordeal. Most all motherboards are comprised of a 6-layer PCB, with very tiny solder pads and holes. The problem that a 6-layer PCB presents is the fact that there is a very small tube through the entire thickness of the motherboard that the components' lead solders to insuring the component is making solid contact with the foil traces in necessary layer of the motherboard. This means that the entire hole is filled with solder, not just the visible surfaces. The solder needs to be removed without removing or damaging the tube or the foil around it. If the tube or foil are damaged, it's instant death to your board! If you have soldered a motherboard before, you know what I am talking about!! Removing the actual component in itself is relatively simple. Clearing the hole of the remaining solder in order to install the new component is what can be a nightmare!! If you have the proper tools and a little ingenuity, you will be able to do this without damaging or destroying your motherboard.

Ok, You're going to try this yourself... You shouldn't have any troubles if you've had some soldering experience, however, I MUST say this!!!

BADCAPS.NET takes NO responsibility for any damages you do to your board from any information you obtained from this site. DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! If you completely hose your board, I don't want to hear about it!! Nor do I want it sent to me for repair! Untangling someone's 'handiwork' is more frustrating than battling the original problem!! If you have any doubts in your skills, DON'T TRY THIS!!

This is where your stainless steel needle pick comes in really handy!!! A dentist's pick is IDEAL for this!! To remove the capacitors, follow these steps:

1) Preheat your soldering iron to roughly 400 degrees Celsius, and connect the grounding strap to the metal shroud around the keyboard or USB ports.

2) Choose your first target capacitor, and heat the POSITIVE lead up until the solder melts.
If the solder won't melt, flow in some fresh solder. This will
help melt it, especially if the factory solder is RoHS lead-free. With the iron still on the POSITIVE lead, push the capacitor toward the NEGATIVE lead until the POSITIVE lead is free of the board, and remove the iron from the board.

3) Now do the same to the NEGATIVE lead, and the capacitor will be free from the board, simply pitch it in the trash (I tend to toss 'em on the floor in my shop).

4) Now to clean the holes out....... Reheat the hole on the back side of the board, if necessary, melt a little fresh solder into the hole to smooth it. Then using your 'solder sucker' on the front side of the hole, suck the solder from the hole. When you are done doing that, the hole should be nice, round, and able to see light through it if held up.

5) If you weren't that lucky and the hole remains closed, here's what you need to do. DO NOT TRY THE 'SOLDER SUCKER' MORE THAN TWICE!!! If you do, you can damage your board!! You need to reheat the hole until the solder is melted, then insert the needle pick into the hole as far as it will fit without forcing it, going all the way through, immerging from the other side... Remove the iron and let the solder harden. Since the pick is stainless steel, the solder will not adhere to it. GENTLY spin and wiggle the pick around until it breaks loose, then remove it from the hole. Use your Exact-o knife and gently scrape the dry solder from the hole. And
VIOLA!! You will have a clean open hole, ready to place a NEW capacitor in!!

Remove ALL the bad capacitors before starting the installation of the new ones. This is important later on in the project, just to make sure that the same amount of replacement caps went back in the board as came out. Trust me, on a board with a lot of caps, it's easy to overlook even the smallest of details. If you need to, draw yourself a diagram of what went where.